


In the Water

by holdontoyourhulahoops



Category: Free!
Genre: Aquarium AU, Fluff, M/M, also pining sousuke because i'm weak, haru is obsessed with fish, like they probably break some rules, probably not all that accurate to a real aquarium, sousuke is a custodian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdontoyourhulahoops/pseuds/holdontoyourhulahoops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Sousuke wants when he takes a job at the local aquarium is to be able to afford a one bedroom apartment and get out of his parents' house.<br/>But then he meets Nanase Haruka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Water

 

 

 

After graduating high school, Sousuke Yamazaki dropped everything and left the country on poorly planned journey to find himself, much to his parents’ chagrin.  Armed with the money he’d managed to save working part-time jobs all through high school, he made his way from Australia to Europe, working odd jobs when he could and taking in the various cultures, while struggling to learn the languages.  

But that could only last for so long, and at some point, Sousuke had to come home.  

He doesn’t regret the decision he made to leave Japan after high school.  College has never appealed to him.  The people he’d met, the places he’d seen, and the things he’d learned; all were invaluable experiences.  But that doesn’t change the fact that now he’s a broke twenty-one year old without any actual goals for his future.

His parents seem happy enough to see him again, but it’s clear from their strained expressions that they aren’t anxious to have him staying with them for too long.  And it’s not as if he’s ecstatic to be living with his parents again either. However, rent and food require money, which Sousuke has found himself a little short on.  

The idea of going to school still tastes sour in his mouth.  Luckily, he’s saved from having that conversation by his childhood friend, Gou Matsuoka.  Upon hearing of his troubles she manages to pull a few strings and get him a job at their local aquarium where she’s interning.  

It’s not glamorous.  He’s basically nothing more than a glorified janitor, but the pay isn’t terrible.  If he manages to budget accordingly, he’ll be able to afford his own place within a few months, which is really all he wants.  Gou warns him the hours might be inconvenient, but he really couldn’t care less.  The less time he has to spend with his parents the better.

She comes down to meet him on his first day, her ponytail bouncing behind her.  It’s relieving to see a familiar face after being assaulted with tons of new information and people.  According to his manager, this job requires significantly more manual labor than he’d been led to believe, but that’s okay.  Manual labor is something he’s familiar with.  It’s something he can do.

Gou beams at him as she bounds toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist before he can protest.  “Sousuke-kun!  It’s so good to see you.”

Sousuke snorts.  “We saw each other last week.”

Gou flicks her hair from her face.  “I know, but I hadn’t seen you for years before.  I feel like you might up and disappear again.”

Sousuke glances down sheepishly, but Gou has already grabbed hold of his arm, tugging him along.  “Hey-”

She brushes off his concern with a smirk.  “Hey, you need a tour, right?  When’s the last time you came here?”

Sousuke fumbles, struggling to keep up with her surprisingly fast pace.  In truth, he hasn’t been to the aquarium since he was a very small boy, upon Rin’s insistence.  He simply hadn’t been the type of child to be fascinated by fish.  “A while.”

“I’m sure it’s changed since then.   There was a major expansion a few years ago, and they added a sea lion exhibit.  Oh, and Onii-chan says good luck with your new job,” she adds, smiling.

“Yeah, he told me yesterday.  And to look out for you,” Sousuke replies.  Rin is one of the few people he’d stayed in contact with after high school, mostly because of his best friend’s ridiculous persistence.  

Gou pouts.  “I don’t need anyone to look out for me!  Rin needs to stop treating me like a child.”

Shaking his head, he ruffles her hair fondly.  “Old habits die hard, Gou-chan.”

“Stop it,” she huffs, pushing his hand away.  It’s a playful action, though, and she’s smiling again within seconds.  “You two are unbelievable.”

Sousuke just grins at her as she rolls her eyes.  “Come on, I bet we’re not too late,” she says, tugging him along.

“For what?” Sousuke furrows his brows, but she doesn’t answer, and only bites her lip excitedly.  They blow by large tanks filled with rare jellyfish and seahorses, but Gou only stops for a moment to point a few out.  Instead, she hurries down the hallway, past families and couples of all ages.  

The next room opens into a large tank, with a tall glass arch that allows visitors to view the creatures inside from all directions.  It’s obviously the main attraction, and Sousuke can’t help but crane his neck to watch a gigantic shark glide over their heads.  

Beside him, Gou giggles, and he follows her gaze.  In front of them, there’s a large congregation of children pressed to the glass, with other spectators clogging the hallway.  Sousuke steps forward to see what they’re all gawking at, his unusual height giving him an advantage.

He has to rub his eyes to believe what he sees.  In the tank, there appears to be a merman, floating among the fish serenely.  Upon closer inspection, he has a small air pump near him, but the long tail he wears is so real, Sousuke could almost believe for a moment he really were a mythical creature.  The merman’s dark hair floats around his face majestically as he stares out at the crowd through glistening eyes.

“I didn’t know they did that kind of thing here,” Sousuke grunts, trying to keep the amazement from his voice.

Gou sends him a knowing smile.  “They didn’t until recently.  That’s Haruka-san.  He’s worked here for years.  He was a child prodigy and graduated college with a degree in marine biology by the time he was eighteen.  No one knows why he insists on staying here in our relatively small city aquarium when he could go work in a major research center.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow.  “If he’s so smart, why’d they hire him as a performer?”

“They didn’t,” Gou laughs.  “He actually just started doing dives as a merman on his own a few months ago. The managers here were really angry at first, but Haruka-san is... well-” She cuts off, shrugging her shoulders in favour of finishing that thought.  “Anyway, it was a huge hit among families and started bringing in lots more business.  They had to concede and let him continue after they were sure it wasn’t harming any of our creatures, with the amount of press it brought.”

Sousuke watches Haruka swim in a loop with his sparkling tail gliding behind him, before he waves at a small girl.  She shrieks, and giggles so hard she nearly falls over.

“Wow.”

Gou nods.  “Haruka-san is very dedicated to the aquarium.  A little too dedicated, maybe.  I wonder if he ever leaves sometimes.  He’s a little odd, I suppose, but he’s actually very nice.  If I forget my lunch, he always has extra to share.” She sighs, a fond smile on her face.  “Though he only ever seems to eat fish.”

“Oh? So you do need someone to take care of you,” Sousuke teases, elbowing her in the side.

“Sousuke-kun,” Gou grumbles, pushing him playfully away.  “Don’t be mean!”

He snorts, and runs a hand through his hair.  “Yeah, yeah.  I should probably get to work anyway.  Wouldn’t want to get in trouble on my first day.”

“Good luck!”  Gou chirps, giving him a quick hug.

He glances up one more time, to see Haruka staring directly at him, his blue eyes glinting in the water.  He turns his head away as soon as their eyes meet, glancing back to the children.  Sousuke manages to convince himself it was just a coincidence.  

Even if he did find the man strangely alluring, it’s not something he should really put much thought into.  There’s no way someone working as a janitor will have many run-ins with a professional marine biologist, even if they are working in the same place.

He bids Gou goodbye for the night and wanders off to find the utility closet so he can begin cleaning the floors.

* * *

 

It’s nearly 1 am before Sousuke manages to finish up.  By this point, the aquarium is basically empty.  Even most of the aquarists have long since gone home.  He doesn’t mind the late hours though, especially since they won’t need him back in until noon, which will hopefully afford him a few hours of sleep.

That is, if he could just find the utility closet again.  Or figure out where he is at all.

He swears the aquarium hadn’t felt so big or confusing when Gou was giving him a tour.  Now, it seems like some sort of unconquerable maze.  He can already imagine Rin laughing at him in his mind, and resolves to try and find his way himself.  

Not as if anyone is around to help him.

Sighing, he rounds a corner, and takes in an awed breath.  Somehow he’d managed to wander into the giant tank again.  It’s still impressive, albeit not the exit he’s been looking for.

Most of the lights are off now, but he can still see the fish and large sharks skimming along the floors. It is pretty beautiful, he decides, allowing himself a moment just to watch a seaturtle swim by.  

Maybe he’d gained an appreciation for wildlife somewhere along his travels.  Or maybe he’s just becoming a nostalgic loser like Rin.

“Lost?”

Sousuke flinches so violently, his back slams into the glass.  He gasps from surprise, eyes widening in shock.

“Don’t tap on the glass, it bothers the sharks.”

Sousuke’s eyes follow the voice to land on a young man sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking strangely familiar.  “What-?”  He cuts off, suddenly recognizing him.  “You’re the performer from earlier.  What are you still doing here?”

Haruka shrugs, and brushes his bangs from his face.  “I work here.”

Sousuke blinks at him.  Gou had mentioned her concerns that her coworker never went home, but he’d never considered it would be to this extent.  “Isn’t it a little late?”

But Haruka doesn’t seem to hear what he says.  He’s staring intently at Sousuke, regarding him in a way that leaves him feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious.  

“You’re the new custodian?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“And you’re lost,” Haruka states matter-of-factly.

Sousuke balks, but he’s pretty obvious, so he can’t do much but blush.  

Haruka pushes himself to his feet,. “You’re Gou’s friend, then?”

“Yeah.  Um, it’s Sousuke,” he replies, silently cursing himself for how awkward he sounds.

“Haru,” the other says, nodding his head.  He turns his gaze back to the glass, pursing his lips.

“Is there any reason you’re still here, then?” Sousuke asks, uncomfortable with the silence.

“It’s good to look after the fish outside of the tank.  I’ve been worried about Rocco.”

“Rocco?” Sousuke repeats, eyebrows knitted together.

Haru gestures toward a relatively small reef shark that’s gliding along the glass.  “He’s been more lethargic than usual.  I’m afraid he might be stressed.”

Sousuke frowns.  To him, that sharks looks no different than any other, but he supposes he’s not a specially trained expert.  “Ah.  Well…”

Shrugging dismissively, Haru tears his gaze from the water.  “It’s late,” he says, and sets off in the opposite direction.

Sousuke swallows, but assumes he’s supposed to follow, so he quickly chases after him, a bit flabbergasted.

* * *

 

The second he returns for work the next day his manager takes one look at him and points him out to the loading docks.  There are piles of extremely heavy looking crates lined up against the wall, which Sousuke has to haul inside.

Alone.

He rolls his shoulders, sighing.  It won’t actually be that bad.  He’d prefer manual labor over anything intellectual, at least.  He manages to heft several of the crates onto a cart before pushing it inside, heading down the employee only hallway he’d been directed toward.

To his surprise, it’s Haru waiting for him in the corner, furiously scribbling some notes on a piece of paper.

“Hey.  Where do you want this?”

Haru gestures toward the back of the room without looking up.  “Hurry.  If it gets too warm it won’t be safe to eat.”

“Right,” Sousuke says, dropping his shoulders.  He spends the next thirty minutes hauling crates back and forth.  Haru hardly leaves his post at the desk over this whole span of time and barely pays him any attention.

Once he’s done, Sousuke takes a moment to stretch out his arms, exhaling loudly.  He chances a look at Haru, who still hasn’t moved from where he’d been earlier, eyes narrowed in concentration.  He can’t imagine what’s giving him so much trouble.

“What are you doing?” Sousuke asks, in a poor attempt at making conversation.

Haru finally lifts his eyes to look at him, perhaps a little surprised he’s being addressed.  “Working on diets.  They’re more complicated than you would think,” he explains.

Sousuke can’t argue with that, considering he knows next to nothing about anything to do with fish, so he just shrugs and turns away.

“Thanks,” Haru calls, without lifting his gaze.

Sousuke freezes.  “Uh… no problem.  I  _was_  hired to do this.”

“The last guy always took too long,” Haru explains in a disinterested voice.  “It was troublesome.”

That’s all Sousuke’s going to get out of him, because he hunches back over his notes, pursing his lips together as he thinks.  But somehow, as Sousuke pushes the cart out of the room, he feels oddly pleased with himself.  

* * *

 

The next two weeks pass in much the same way.  Sousuke shows up around noon, and is forced to do whatever menial task his manager has come up for him today, before cleaning the place after closing time.

It’s not bad, and every day brings him a step closer to the coveted single bedroom apartment he’s been dreaming of for the past two months.

Haru seems to be everywhere in the aquarium; writing up diets, measuring chemical levels, entertaining children, and performing countless other tasks Sousuke can’t even begin to understand.

Sousuke eats his meals with Gou most days.  She babbles away about the events of her research and chores, grinning with enthusiasm.  

“They finally gave me a break from sorting food,” she explains one day, seeming quite proud of herself.  “I got to work with the sea lions!”

Sousuke pats her on the head.  “Didn’t you sign up to sort the food though? I didn’t know being an intern was all that glamourous.”

Gou wrinkles her nose.  “You can only dice so many fish before you start to get sick of it.  And the sea lions are so cute!”  She continues to ramble on, and Sousuke listens in comfortable silence, occasionally offering a grunt of ascent to let her know he’s still paying attention.

“You weren’t lying when you said Haru never seems to leave this place,” he says, once she’s burned herself out on that topic.  “I run into him everywhere.  What does he even do here?”

“Everything,” Gou giggles.  “I told you, he’s a little weird, but it’s hard not to like him.”

Sousuke makes a noncommittal sound, but Gou can read him well enough to see right through it.  She grins, poking him in the side.

“Don’t you think, Sousuke-kun?”

“He’s fine. I’m not sure how you managed to get food off of him, though.  Does he ever take a break?” Sousuke huffs, looking away.

“Sometimes I’ll catch him napping in the meal prep room.  It’s a little weird, because that room always stinks like rotting fish, but he never seems to mind.”

“Weird guy,” Sousuke echoes.

“Hey, don’t act like you don’t like him.  I’ve seen you sneaking into the back of his merman shows.”

“Pure coincidence,” Sousuke grunts, his ears turning red despite himself.

“It’s okay, no need to be embarrassed!” Gou sing-songs, sticking her tongue out at him.  

Sousuke pushes himself to his feet, scowling.  “You’re worse than your brother sometimes.”

“I’m only being honest!”  Gou calls after him, laughing gleefully.

* * *

 

Sousuke is busy mopping, absorbed in his thoughts, when suddenly he’s interrupted by someone tapping on his shoulder.  He jumps and whips his head around, swearing beneath his breath, only to find Haru smirking up at him.

“You okay, Sousuke?” Haru asks, and Sousuke isn’t sure whether to be offended by the smug tone of his voice, or surprised that Haru bothered to remember his name.  

Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised by it.  They have been seeing a lot of each other, even if they never talk much.  Still, Haru doesn’t strike him as the type of person to remember the name of some insignificant custodial worker.  Although he’ll never admit it, he’s oddly touched.

“Erm… do you need something?” Sousuke asks, when he realizes he’s been staring at Haru with his mouth half open for too long to be socially acceptable.

If Haru noticed this, though, he doesn’t let it show.  “Hmm… Yes.  Can you carry something for me?”

Sousuke bites back the instinct to ask why he always has to be the one to carry everything, when they have an army of helpless interns at their disposal.  Instead, he nods, and follows the other dutifully.

Haru leads him to the freezer and points to several tubs of what appears to be some sort of frozen bait fish.  He grabs two of the containers, and leaves the other four for Sousuke.  

They make their way down the hallways, past several of the birthing and acclimation tanks before stopping in one of the nutrition rooms.  

“Sorry to bother you.  One of the interns was sick today,” Haru says, as he drops one of the bins onto the ground.

“Ah, it’s no problem,” Sousuke replies.  It’s not a lie.  Mopping floors can only hold his attention for so long, and he doesn’t mind the distraction.  He turns to leave, but Haru stops him.

“Help with this.” It’s not worded as request, despite the fact that helping prepare gross fish food is nowhere in Sousuke’s job description.  He wonders if he should just change his title from ‘custodian’ to ‘errand boy’ and be done with it.

“I still have to mop the floors, and clean the glass on half the tanks,” Sousuke grumbles, but he stays in place, watching as Haru disinfects the cleaning tray.

“Ten minutes,” Haru reasons, and hands him a pair of plastic gloves.  “The turtles need to be fed soon,” he explains.

Sousuke grimaces as Haru scoops a pile of the small fish on the counter.  “You need to add a vitamins so they’ll get what they need.  Freezing the sardines takes out a lot of the nutrients.”  He carefully pushes a vitamin down the thawing fish’s side with a clinical expression on his face, like he does this every day- which he probably does.

“You really couldn’t do this yourself?” Sousuke grunts, though he copies Haru’s actions nevertheless.  “I didn’t sign up for this.”

There’s an unreadable look in Haru’s eyes when he glances back down at him.  “You can’t understand the ocean until you take care of it.  They won’t approve of you.”

“What does that even mean?” Sousuke asks, incredulous.  “Since when am I looking for approval from fish?”  This may be the strangest conversation he’s ever had, but Haru’s looking at him like he’s the one who’s insane.

Rolling his eyes, Haru merely tosses another finished sardine into the bucket, and doesn’t elaborate.

Sousuke stares at him, not entirely sure what to make of him.  “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm….?”

“What do you even do around here?”

“I take care of the fish.”

“Yeah, but don’t you have a job?  Like one thing you’re supposed to do?  You seem to be everywhere.”

Blinking disinterestedly, Haru tucks another vitamin under a sardine’s gills. “I help out where I’m needed.”

“So you’re needed everywhere?”

“The fish need me,” Haru replies, in a serious tone.  “I don’t mind. I need them too- to feel...  _free_.” A nostalgic smile grows on his face, as he tosses another sardine toward the bucket.

Sousuke furrows his brows in disbelief, but he doesn’t dispute that statement.  When it comes to dealing with Haru, he’s beginning to think it’s best to just accept whatever crazy things that come out of his mouth and move on.

Haru dismisses him after a few more minutes and heads off to feed the turtles, without offering more than a word of gratitude for all the time he’s stolen from his unfortunate custodial worker.

Sousuke narrows his eyes as he watches him go, before trudging off to find where he’d left his mop.  The amount of cleaning he has ahead of him is pretty disheartening, but there’s nothing he can do about it. “Well, who needs sleep, anyway?” he grumbles to himself bitterly.

Hours later, after cleaning all the floors in the main room, he walks into the freshwater exhibit to find all the glass freshly cleaned and polished.  

He doesn’t have to guess who’s behind it.

Shaking his head, he runs a hand down his face.  Haru really is something.

* * *

 

“ _Damn_ ,” Sousuke mumbles under his breath, and immediately prays to every god he can think of that Haru didn’t hear him.

He had been assigned to clean the floors of the quarantine room, and it had all been going well.  He was just innocently sweeping away when Haru walked past- wearing a  _skin-tight_  diving suit.

Sousuke would be lying if he says it didn’t catch him a little off guard.

His reaction really isn’t his fault, though.  No one could deny that Haru’s aesthetically attractive, especially when wearing a diving suit that hugs the contours of his body perfectly.

“Something wrong, Sousuke?” Haru asks, a blank look on his face.  If he’d heard Sousuke say anything weird, it doesn’t show in his expression.

“Oh, um… no.” Sousuke replies, with an uncomfortably forced smile.  It’s not even that he hasn’t seen Haru in a diving suit before; it’s not uncommon for him to enter the exhibits to feed or take care of the various wildlife while Sousuke is polishing the tanks.  Heck, Sousuke frequently sees him shirtless with a tail during all his shows Monday and Thursday (all coincidences, of course, no matter what Gou says).

Still, the proximity between them makes it hard for Sousuke to breathe, no matter how hard he tries to reason with himself.

“Where are you going?” he asks, trying to cover up how unsettled he is.  He can only hope it’s just his imagination that his voice sounds an octave higher than usual.

“Tank 4 needs repairs.  Mosby got a scratched fin from one of the props,” Haru says indifferently.  Sousuke is too busy trying to will away his discomfort to wonder who exactly Mosby is.

“Tank 4 is a shark tank, right?  Don’t you get worried swimming with them?” he starts, without thinking.  Anything to keep Haru from noticing how much of a flustered mess he is.

He’s not expecting Haru to glare at him, lip curling into a scowl.   

“No,” he states bluntly.  “They’re not nearly the most dangerous creature we have in this aquarium.  But it’s statements like that, that get them killed in the wild.”

Sousuke takes a nervous step back. Haru’s gaze is fierce, probably more emotional than he’s ever seen it.  It’s kind of hot.

Wait, no!  He wills that thought away and backtracks.

“I know, I was just asking,” he says, with a nervous chuckle.  “I know it’s not likely for anyone to be attacked by a shark, but still, I’d be nervous.”

Shrugging, Haru pulls his wetsuit further down his arm.  “They’re not dangerous at all.  Mosby likes nose rubs.  It’s cute.”

“Most people wouldn’t describe sharks as cute,” Sousuke deadpans.

“They’re wrong,” Haru mumbles, and pivots away.  Sousuke definitely does not watch the way his hips sway as he storms off.

No.

He definitely does not.

* * *

 

At the end of that very same week Sousuke is forced to stay till three in the morning, scrubbing away the scummy handprints of various children from the glass.

It’s not even surprising anymore to discover Haru in the shark exhibit, sitting cross-legged on the ground.  

Sousuke watches as he lifts a palm till it’s hovering right in front of the glass, mirroring the starfish resting there.

“Don’t you ever go home to sleep?” he calls, voice echoing off the quiet walls of the aquarium.

Maybe he’d been hoping he’d finally be able to scare Haru for once, but the smaller man merely turns to blink at him, unfazed.  “I like it when it’s quiet.”

“Yeah, right,” Sousuke grumbles, and barely resists the urge to roll his eyes.  “Sometimes I wonder how you even function.”

Haru hums and then gestures toward the ground beside him, inviting him to sit.

Sousuke’s eyes widen.  For all the times he’s found Haru in random areas around the aquarium he’s never done such a thing before.  Even so, Sousuke has basically finished up and he can hear his bed calling his name.  Who knows how long this might take?

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s really late.”

Haru doesn’t seem to care about this, and only gestures toward his side again.  Sousuke sighs loudly, but slumps down beside him, and gives him a weird look.

“What’s going on?”

Haru shrugs.  “Nothing.”

“Then I really should-”

Shaking his head, Haru points as a stingray drifts by, following it with his eyes.  “That’s Maybelle.  She used to be super wary of humans, but now she loves swimming close to the glass.”

“Okay, that’s cool...”

“The eel in the reef is Sakura.  She was tangled in a net a few months ago, but now she thrives here.  Sully, the hawksbill there, was kept as a pet for the first few month of her life.”

“Do they all have names, then?” asks Sousuke, pressing his lips together curiously.

“Of course.”  

“And you remember them all?”

Haru shoots him an annoyed look.  “I have to remember them,” he says, with an air of finality.

“Doesn’t that take forever?”

Haru sighs, as if Sousuke is greatly inconveniencing him by not following his weird way of thinking.  “They’re all individual creatures with their own stories.  So I have to.”

Maybelle the stingray drifts along the glass, gliding by them.  Sousuke shifts his eyes from her to Haru; regarding the way he watches at all the animals in such awe, like a doting parent.  There’s definitely something admirable about how he has dedicated so much time to all these creatures, only because he cares about them all individually.  Sousuke doesn’t know what it would be like to care about anything so much.

“You’re really good at your job, Haru.  But I don’t think I have the time to memorize the names of thousands of fish.”

Haru glances at him out of the corner of his eye.  “You’ve worked here for months now, but you haven’t taken the time to really know any of the life here.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to afford to rent a one bedroom apartment, fishboy.”

Haru wrinkles his nose at the nickname, but carries on without commenting on it.  “Gou says you still haven’t found any goals for your future yet.”

Sousuke makes a frustrated sound.  Leave it to Gou to go around gossiping personal information about him.  “I’m going to have a talk with her…”

“It’s okay.  I was like that too,” Haru explains, staring at his lap.  Sousuke looks back at him, mouth half open.  

“But the ocean, and the creatures that live in it…. They showed me what I needed,” he explains.  He lifts his gaze to meet the other’s, blue eyes glistening in the limited light.

Swallowing, Sousuke has to wrench his eyes back to the water.  He’d never expected to be having this conversation with Haru of all people, but the words start tumbling out of his mouth.  “I left Japan right after graduation.  Hardly stayed around to say goodbye to my friends, or anything.  It’s just… school didn’t sound like something I wanted.  I thought at the time I was doing the smart thing and I still don’t regret it.  Those were the best years of my life.  But maybe instead of figuring out what I was supposed to be doing with my life, I  _was_  just running away.”

He drops his face into his hands.  These frustrations are embarrassing, but he’s never voiced them aloud before, and it’s oddly cathartic, especially with Haru listening so intently.  “I still have no fucking clue what I’m going to do.  And… no offense, but I’m not sure I’m going to find it from fish.”

Haru shifts to the side, just enough so that their shoulders brush lightly together.  It’s oddly  comforting, and Sousuke feels his body lose some of the tension.

“Okay,” Haru says, in a soft voice.  “But you should learn more about the fish, if you’re here.”

“I’m not going to become some sort of non-sleeping fish zombie like you.”

Sousuke looks up just in time to see Haru roll his eyes.  His expression is just as impassive as ever.  There’s no sign that he feels bad for him, or finds him pathetic, which is more relieving than he would have thought.  

“You can learn things from them you wouldn’t expect.”

Sousuke isn’t sure what to make of that, so he lets the conversation die.  They sit together in companionable silence for at least the next hour, both caught up in their own thoughts.

* * *

 

“I’m sorry, but there is no way,” Sousuke says firmly, taking a wary step away.

Haru smirks at him, and closes his fingers around his waist.  “It’s safe.”

“No.”

Even as he says this, Haru is already shoving a wetsuit at his chest.  “Trust me.”

“No!  Haru, I swear to god-”

In the end, all his protests are for nothing.  It was probably inevitable, because Haru has decided to be irrationally stubborn about this.

“I hate you,” Sousuke grunts, staring down at the water below them warily. “This is crazy.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Haru replies, voice as impassive as ever.  

Sousuke takes an involuntary step back.  “This can’t be allowed.”

“We won’t get in trouble.” He squeezes Sousuke’s wrist.  “They do group dives here all the time.”

“Yeah, but those are people who want to go in.  And pay money for it.”

“You’ll be fine,” Haru assures, before he takes a step forward and glides into the water, hardly leaving a splash.  Haru’s acting as if Sousuke is the one being unreasonable here, which is unfair.  Sousuke has nothing against sharks, but there’s nothing wrong with having a healthy fear of the ocean’s fiercest predators, he thinks.

“Come on,” Haru urges.

Sousuke shuffles nervously to the edge, staring down at the clear water.  He can see the sharks and other fish swimming around peacefully through the glassy water.  Some have already started to swarm around Haru like hungry birds, expecting food.  Hungry birds, with long sharp teeth and the speed of a seasoned predator, that is.

If Sousuke really wanted to, he could leave now.  Haru wouldn’t be able to catch him.  But there’s something in Haru’s eyes that stops him from fleeing.  And if Rin ever learned about him chickening out over something like this, he’ll never hear the end of it.

He lands with far less grace then his companion, scattering the curious fish with a large splash.

The water is warmer than he’d expected, but he still can’t stop shivering. Something brushes against his leg, and he almost panics, his entire body going tense.  But then he feels Haru’s warm fingers on his back, holding him in place.  He takes a deep breath, and allows himself a moment just to tread water and let his heart rate calm down.

Haru stays at his side, watching him encouragingly. He doesn’t remove his hand from the small of Sousuke’s back.  

“Okay?”

“You’re asking me that after you force me to do this?” Sousuke grunts, wincing slightly when another object runs against his leg.

Haru smiles.  It’s genuine, so wide his eyes crinkle at the corners in amusement. It’s such a rare sight to see a true smile from him, that Sousuke almost forgets his anxiety.

Almost.

“Right.  Yeah, I’m okay,” he relents. Though, if he’s being honest with himself, he’s a little disappointed when Haru draws his hand away and swims off.  

Haru has no mask on, but it doesn’t seem to bother him.  Apparently he’s a freak who can see fine through salt water without burning his eyes.  

Sousuke tugs his snorkel down over his eyes, and follows after him.

He lets out an involuntary gasp of air, almost choking on the water.  Directly beneath them are several of their sharks, all pooled around Haru.

Sousuke had known this would happen, but it still makes him uneasy.   His hands shake when one comes close to brushing against his side.  

Haru looks back at him, eyes glowing, and suddenly the sharks don’t seem quite so intimidating.  He’s so at home here, almost more so than when he’s on land.  Sousuke has always found him impressive while in the water, but there’s something about being here with him that makes it even harder to handle.

Haru runs a hand along one of their backs, gently enough so it’s unlikely the creature even notices.  Haru smiles at it, and proceeds to carefully rub the top of its nose.  It stops, and seems to grow fixated by the touch, floating there motionlessly until Haru finally surfaces for air.

He’s grinning when Sousuke emerges beside him.  “I told you before. Mosby likes nose rubs.”

“Yeah,  _right_ ,” Sousuke replies, a little breathless.  “It is weird to see a massive shark turning to putty with your touch.”

Haru blinks at him, and swims closer, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You try.”

Recoiling away, Sousuke shakes his head.  “No, this is good enough for me.”

“They aren’t dangerous.”

“You’re professionally trained.”

“I’ll help you,” Haru says, and reaches forward to grip hold of his hand.

Even if he wanted to argue, Sousuke finds himself mysteriously unable to say anything remotely coherent.

Haru waits patiently until Mosby circles back around the tank and returns, presumably to be spoiled more.  Then, with practiced ease, he lifts Sousuke’s hand until it rests on the shark’s head.  Its skin is rougher than Sousuke would have imagined, feeling similar to sandpaper.  He runs his hand over the surface of the shark’s nose, eyes wide, before pulling away.

“So…?” Haru asks, as soon as he’s emerged from the water.

“It’s… wow.”

“Cute?”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Sousuke sighs, but he’s smiling now too.  

This time it doesn’t take any coaxing to get him to follow after Haru.  They glide along the edges of the tank, coming up for breath so Haru can tell Sousuke different anecdotes about the various creatures; even most of the small fish seem to have some kind of origin story to learn about.  

The tank is different from above; more serene and quiet.  Almost like a different world, really.  The fish don’t seem bothered to have them there, as they race around the wide expanse of water.  Sousuke finds himself strangely at ease despite his anxiety only a few minutes prior; perhaps the most at ease he’s felt in months.

At some point, his fingers end up linked with Haru’s again.

Neither makes any effort to pull away.

* * *

 

Gou smirks at him as he sits down with lunch the next day, and a pool of dread settles in his stomach.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing,” she says, lips quirking up.  “I heard you went swimming in the shark exhibit… with Haruka-san.”

Sousuke’s face falls.  He sighs, running a hand through his hair.  “Where’d you hear that?”

“Kunimi-kun was scheduled to check the chemical levels,” she says, raising both her eyebrows like it’s taking all her willpower not to say more.

Groaning, Sousuke chances a glance at her through his fingers.  She’s very obviously trying not to laugh at him.  

“It’s okay, he said you guys were pretty cute! How romantic!”

He lets out an incoherent sound as Gou finally releases a round of giggles.  “You should tell Onii-chan.  I think he’d appreciate this level of corny romance.”

“It wasn’t-” He cuts off, his ears turning bright red. “If you tell him about this, I’ll end you.”

“I won’t,” Gou shoots back defensively, rolling her eyes.  “I’m not that mean.”

Shaking her head, she leans in to rest her chin in the palm of her hand. “But did you ask him out?  I think someone like Haruka-san could be really good for you.”

He shrinks further into his chair, embarrassed.  “No.”

“But you’re going to?”

Sousuke’s mortified silence is answer enough for both of them.

* * *

 

Despite Gou’s excitement, Sousuke doesn’t see much of Haru over the next week or so.  He still catches glimpses of him diving in the tanks or examining some exhibit or another, but he seems significantly busier than usual.  Beyond a few short conversations, they don’t really interact much at all.

Sousuke tells himself he’s not disappointed by this.  The aquarium has received a whole new shipment of baby reef sharks and two adolescent Giant Green turtles, so it does make sense that Haru would have his hands full.

Still, he can’t help feeling there’s something distinctly off about Haru’s behavior, despite that he seems just as nonchalant as usual.

He refuses to really let this get to him, though.  He’s never been able to understand Haru well, anyway, so tries not to think about it and goes about his daily activities.  

If he keeps taking a few extra hours every week he’ll be able to afford his own apartment in less than two weeks.  He tells himself that should make him happy, and wills away the ache in his chest.

It’s the beginning of his monday shift and a little girl is sobbing in the entrance of the aquarium.  This wouldn’t be an odd occurrence on it’s own, but then he catches the end of what she’s upset about.

“I wanted to see the merman!” she sobs, bottom lip trembling.

“I know, honey, but he’s not here today.  What about the sea lions,” her mother tries to placate, to no avail.

Sousuke frowns.  ‘ _Not here today_ ’?  He couldn’t believe that. Haru is always here.  In the months that Sousuke has worked at the aquarium, Haru has never missed a single scheduled performance.

Brow furrowing, he drops his broom against the wall and hurries toward the staff area.  

“Have you seen Haru?” he asks the first person he sees.

The aquarist turns toward him with an uncertain expression, but then nods her head, gesturing down the hallway to the quarantine zone.  “He’s been there all day…” she sighs, glancing down ominously.  “We lost one of our sharks last night.  He’d been killing himself trying to save him, but there was nothing anyone could do….  Haru didn’t take it well…”

“ _Ah_.”

The aquarist nods sadly.

Sousuke doesn’t wait for further explanation.  Spinning around, he speed walks in the other direction, fists clenched at his sides.

He’s not technically supposed to be in this part of the building without special permission, but he could hardly care less now.  He finds Haru sitting with his back against the wall, knees pulled all the way to his chest.  There are dark circles under his eyes, and he’s wearing a dangerously blank expression.  He doesn’t even seem to register Sousuke in front of him.

“Haru…” Sousuke begins, suddenly feeling a little foolish for bothering to come back here.  He opens and closes his mouth helplessly, but then Haru snaps his head up, and pushes himself to his feet.

“You aren’t supposed to be back here,” he says.  There’s a venomous bite to his voice, though his words waver a little.  Had the situation been different, Sousuke might have teased him for suddenly growing concerned with the rules, when he’d never acknowledged them much before.

Instead, his eyes drop with concern.

“You skipped a performance.  You’ve never done that.”  The ‘l was worried’ that comes next is left unsaid between them.  

“It’s my fault,” Haru sighs, staring miserably at the tank in front of him.  

“Hey-”

“I noticed something off about him a while ago, but I let it go.”  He sniffles, dropping his gaze.  “I even wrote down that Rocco was too lethargic months ago. And now... it’s too late.”  The words trail off at the end, and lets out a quiet  sob.

Sousuke swallows loudly.  He remembers Haru mentioning something about that, back when they first met, when he had been nothing but an odd stranger.  But things are different now.

Without thinking, he surges forward, wrapping both arms around Haru’s body protectively.  The smaller man stiffens for a second, but then melts into his chest, letting out another inaudible sob.

Sousuke rubs his back soothingly, and drops his chin against the top of his head.  “It’s not your fault, Haru.  These things... they happen.” Haru makes a disbelieving sound into his shirt, but doesn’t draw back.

“I’m serious.  You care so much for every creature here.  No one could have seen this coming.  You’re already so good at your job.  Don’t go blaming yourself,” Sousuke rambles.  He’s too worried about Haru to really feel embarrassed by how sentimental his voice sounds.

Haru draws in a shaky breath.  Without speaking, he raises a hand to grasp hold of the man’s t-shirt. His shoulders tremble, and Sousuke tugs him closer, running a hand through his hair.  

Later, Sousuke is apprehended for disappearing from work for over two hours.

He can’t bring himself to care.

* * *

 

“Mom, the merman!” a little boy cries, when Sousuke is walking through the lobby two days later. “He’s here, we can’t miss him!”  Sousuke watches the child tug his mother down the hallway, racing past the jellyfish and freshwater exhibits.  He follows them, unable to resist.

Haru’s floating in the water with the long glittery tail spread out behind him, waving to children as they giggle and squeal.

Sousuke relaxes his shoulders, as a turtle swims past Haru’s head, causing his audience to burst into an eruption of excitement.

This time, when Haru raises his eyes to meet his, Sousuke knows it’s not some weird coincidence.  He lifts a hand in greeting, an easy smile on his face.  He’s happy to see him looking more like himself; content and at home in the water.

Haru raises an eyebrow at him before flipping away.  

* * *

 

During his break Sousuke receives a text from Rin, asking him about his supposed romance with ‘the weird fish-trainer guy’.  Apparently Gou had only been able to hold out telling her precious brother the fresh gossip for so long.  Sousuke can’t really blame her.  Rin has a nose like a bloodhound for that kind of thing, so he figures it was only a matter of time.

He responds with a shrugging emoji, to which Rin subsequently sends an obnoxiously long line of exclamation points, followed by several messages in all caps demanding details.

Sousuke rolls his eyes and turns off his phone.  He’s sure Gou will fill Rin in later.

* * *

 

Haru’s not in any of the usual spots that night.  It takes some searching for Sousuke to finally find him with his face hovering near the seahorse exhibit, watching them curiously.

“Hey.”

As always, Haru remains unaffected by his sudden arrival.  He continues to observe the lazy looking sea-creatures, only acknowledging Sousuke with a slight nod.

“So... you were back in the water today,” Sousuke starts.  There’s a strange tension between them that leaves him feeling strangely uncertain.  He steps closer despite this, letting their shoulders bump together.

“Yeah,” Haru replies, flicking his hair from his face.  “I heard the kids were disappointed I was gone, so I had to go back.”

“Or you just wanted to be back in the water.”

Haru snorts, but doesn’t dispute this.  He shifts so he’s facing Sousuke, staring up at him with an unreadable expression.  “Thanks,” he breathes, in a small voice.  

“Uh… yeah. You don’t have to thank me.”  

They’re so close now, that Sousuke feels kind of dizzy.  He inhales deeply, praying that he won’t pass out and embarrass himself.

Haru glances once more at the small seahorses floating motionlessly in their tank, before reaching out to grip Sousuke’s arm.  There’s a short pause where they just stare at each other, feeling the other’s breath against their faces.

Then he cranes his neck and Sousuke bows to meet him.  Their lips meet, just gently brushing together.  Sousuke rests his hands on Haru’s hips as Haru’s arms come up to wrap around his neck.  

Haru’s eyelashes flutter when he draws away.  Beaming, he rests his chin on Sousuke’s shoulder and sighs contentedly.

Sousuke runs a finger down his cheek, grinning.  

* * *

 

A hand stroking the hair on the back of his neck gradually pulls Sousuke from a deep sleep.  He yawns and twists onto his side.  Haru gazes lazily down at him through half-lidded eyes.

“Morning,” Sousuke sighs, breath still husky from sleep.  “What time is it?”

Haru shrugs, before leaning forward to nuzzle into his side.  Sousuke knows it’s probably some obscene hour of the morning, but he’s grown used to it over the past two months of practically living at Haru’s house, and it’s not worth the energy it would take to complain.

“Shouldn’t you be getting to work?”  Sousuke asks, stretching out his right arm so that it hangs over Haru’s back.

“Yeah.  Mariko is supposed to have her pups soon.”

“Go on ahead.  I don’t need to see the miracle of shark birth.”

Rolling his eyes, Haru pokes him in the side.  “It’s not that gross.”

“I don’t care,” Sousuke mumbles in reply, mouth quirking up as Haru’s lips brush his cheek.

He never did get around to buying that single bedroom apartment he’d been dreaming of for months, but he supposes he hasn’t slept at his parent’s house once in the past three weeks anyway.  

Haru tugs on his arm. “Come on.”

“I don’t start for almost six hours,” Sousuke grunts.

“You can pet one.”

“I doubt it’s good to pet shark pups, Haru,” Sousuke sighs, but he relents and heaves himself up, rubbing away the blurriness in his vision.  

Smirking, Haru shrugs his shoulders.  “Probably not.”

“So you’re just using this as a ploy to get me up early,” Sousuke states, bowing to dig through his drawer for some clean clothes.  

Haru blinks innocently at him.  “We could swim.”

“No.”

Wrinkling his nose, Haru turns his head away with a pouty huff.

“Maybe tonight.”

Sousuke very well knows that he’s falling right into his boyfriend’s trap by giving in, and yet he can’t bring himself to care.  Maybe some part of him actually really enjoys their swims together, as unnerving as they may have seemed at first-  _not that he’ll ever admit it_.

A small smile worms it’s way onto Haru’s face, before he turns into the bathroom.  

Sousuke shakes his head at him and checks his phone.  On it, he finds five pictures from Gou of various seaturtles and ocean life, all with her smiling giddily into the camera.  She’s moved on from her internship, and is now researching the habitats of sea turtles in Australia.  She seems pretty happy there.

As for Sousuke, he still isn’t sure what he wants to do with his future.  Any particular passion for a legitimate career path continues to elude him, but he’s really not worried about it anymore.

Perhaps he’ll live his whole life working as the custodian at their aquarium.  Or maybe he’ll move on to something different.  As of right now, he doesn’t see a reason to worry about it.

No, for now, he’s content to wrap his arms around Haru’s chest as he brushes his teeth and rest his chin on the top of his head. (Even if he’s forcing him to leave the house an hour before sunrise.)

Rin had once told him that things had a way of falling into place, with a starry-eyed grin on his face.  Sousuke always took that as the usual shoujo manga bullshit.

But, as Sousuke watches his boyfriend glide through the water, awing children and adults alike with his graceful swimming and sparkling blue tail, he wonders if maybe there’s just a speck of truth in that.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, gosh, I worked pretty hard on this and I hope people like it. I hardly ever finish longer projects that I start. Thanks for everyone on tumblr for helping me out.  
> I am so weak for fluffy souharu aus, but be aware some of the things they do here probably wouldn't be allowed in a normal aquarium. I took some artistic liberties.  
> I have tons more souharu ficlets on my tumblr at hopenobodyeverfindsthis if anybody is interested.


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